Get the latest news from around Illinois.
Rockford Register Star: Illinois border cities brace for loss of car biz
Beginning New Year’s Day it became a lot more expensive for Illinoisans to trade in a car, and this has auto dealers, particularly in border areas, bracing for lost business.
“Maybe a tax like this would make sense in someplace like Hawaii, where there aren’t any neighboring states. But for a state like Illinois in the middle of the country it makes no sense at all,” said Jamie Auffenberg, who owns auto dealerships in Belleville and O’Fallon.
The Center Square: Illinois ends cannabis prohibition with first legal sales across state
Thousands of people across the state lined up on New Year’s Day to buy pot on the first day of the end of cannabis prohibition in Illinois.
The adult-use cannabis law was enacted last summer. A followup bill in the fall put the final rules in place. A few dozen medical cannabis dispensaries across the state that have been operating for years to sell medicinal pot were given the first opportunity on recreational sales starting Jan. 1.
Chicago Tribune: Hometown developers of projects like Vista Tower, Lincoln Yards and Bank of America Tower are putting money in other cities. ‘We love Chicago but are super nervous.’
After years of luring corporate headquarters downtown, altering the city’s skyline and transforming once-fringe neighborhoods, some of Chicago’s best-known developers are taking a new approach for 2020 and beyond.
They’re lining up real estate investments in other cities.
Chicago Sun-Times: State lawmakers behind cannabis legalization reflect: ‘This isn’t the finish line’
For state Rep. Kelly Cassidy, who led the charge in the Illinois House for legal cannabis, the start of sales was a day to celebrate.
But it’s not the end of Cassidy’s cannabis work.
The Center Square: Libraries across Illinois are waiving late fees to encourage more use of public resources
Public libraries across Illinois are either eliminating late fees or are looking into such a policy.
Chicago Public Library recently waived late fees. Starting Wednesday, the Fox River Valley Public Library District says patrons will no longer be charged fines for late materials.